Back to school, new school and more school!

Last Updated on 24 August 2023 by Colette

It has become something of a tradition over the years that the first thing I sit down to write once I’ve dropped all the kids off at school in September is a bit of a reflection of the summer and thoughts about the new school year.

The start of this academic year is a big one – it’s a big change for many of us as our children return to school after months at home. There’s worry around how the kids will cope, how we will cope, what the risks are and how to manage those . . . and then there’s restrictions and routine changes to get our heads around too. At the start of this week I felt really quite stressed out by it all and I’m sure lots of you did too!

“I feel like a shaken bottle of pop – all fizzy and unsettled inside.”

The timings of my school runs have altered, there’s packed lunches to think about, school bags to be left at home, PE kits to be worn on set days, constant email updates from two different schools and then my own work – writing deadlines to meet, emails to reply to, significant changes to my working week to get my head round and settle into as my work balance shifts back more towards teaching for a while.

I know that I just need to get my head down and get on with it and it will all slip into place but the mental load has felt heavy this week.

Getting the girls back into school

Getting the girls back into school yesterday was the first tick on the list and one less thing to think about. Excitement levels were high with both girls were ready to leave about 45 minutes early. Chlo was especially excited as she didn’t get to go back in June with the other two. She was literally counting down the hours till she could get back into the classroom and kept asking me to make the time go faster. She was mostly excited just to be able to see her friends again but I know she’s also really looking forward to cracking on with Year 5!

I must admit it felt really strange walking the girls to school – not so much because we hadn’t done it for ages but more because there was a child missing! I think only walking the two of them to school is going to take a little bit of getting used to!

When I picked the girls up last night, it was honestly like they’d never been away (bar the changes to pick up times and places). They were both thrilled to have been able to catch up with friends they’ve not seen in forever. Chloe wasn’t so keen on the fact that her play times were only to be spent with the children in her class as she has good friends in the parallel 5 /6 class and also the Year 4 / 5 class – but fortunately her best friend is in the same class as her so that’s the most important thing! There was definitely no social distancing going on with those two yesterday – we must have told them not to hug each other a handful of times before just giving up and accepting that that was how it was going to be! (I know how hard I find it not to hug my best friend right now and I’m not a nine year old girl!)

Ben’s first day at secondary school

Today was the big one for our family though, the day that our baby boy set off on his newest adventure, one that we’ll have very little to do with!

All thoughts of the rubbish end to primary school were long since forgotten as he got up early and proudly put on his new school uniform. He hasn’t quite mastered his tie yet so I needed to help him out with that but I know he’ll have it nailed within a few days – it’s like the grown up version of learning to tie your shoes laces isn’t it!

With his packed lunch (which he very nearly forgot), a full set of stationery (no sharing or borrowing allowed thanks to all the Covid restrictions) and a couple of face coverings (for both the bus and within school), I walked my boy to the bus stop to wave him off for his first day at secondary school! (Don’t panic, I’m not going to walk him to the bus every day, I was just a bit bothered about making sure we’d got the right bus pass and everything!)

There’s only a handful of children from Ben’s primary school going to his new high school but luckily they all get on well and planned to get the same bus together along with a couple of older siblings who had kindly got up early to accompany them, depsite not having to be in school themselves till Monday!

I may have shed a tear at the bus stop, but what really got me was when I was looking at my facebook memories over breakfast and a video of Ben popped up from the day before he started Reception telling me how excited he was to go to school all day and that he was going to have his dinner there! The time has gone so fast.

I don’t have a back to school photo of all three children yet – Ben was out the door before the girls were even downstairs this morning so I will have to try and catch one after school tomorrow night! (I’ll add it in here later!) As Ben reminded me yesterday, I’ll never get a photo of them all in the same uniform again.

And me?

Well today I’m just really excited to sit down at my desk in peace and work! Ben thought it was hilarious that I’d made being able to sit and work all day sound like a good thing but in all honesty it is. I’ve spent the last six months squeezing my work in around everything else – around the stress of Lockdown, around the kids being off school, around having a new puppy . . . my work has been bottom of the pile. And that’s been OK in that work has been quite slow, I’ve not had lots of paid commissions and deadlines to think about, but there’s far more to my work than ADs – and by the time I’d done everything else there was little inspiration or enthusiasm for writing, editing or creating. So yes, I’m really looking forward to some routine and some time to work.

But this September also brings about some changes for me work-wise, albeit temporarily. I’ve been a supply teacher for eight years this September – that’s getting on for half of my teaching carer! Over the years I’ve switched between working two and three days depending on what childcare we had – but mostly settling with two days as we found it’s what worked best for us. This term I’m going to be doing a regular three days in school – something I’m excited for as it’s a school I love (in fact I think it’s my favourite school) and somewhere I work regularly, so I’m comfortable and confident in knowing the kids and staff – which I think will be really valuable over the coming weeks when things generally are so different. I’m also extremely grateful to know I’ve got a steady income for the next few months. But, I’m nervous too – nervous about how the extra day will impact my work life balance, about how Poppy will cope with me being out at work three days a week (though luckily Dave is still working from home for the most part) but mostly just nervous about doing a good job! I know there will be lots of changes for me to get to grips with when I head back into the classroom next week and I want to make sure I get it all right, so as I said earlier in this very post, I just need to get my head down and get on with it!

So this is it, Year 2, Year 5 and Year 7 and back to a regular three days in the classroom for me …

Let’s hope this academic year goes a little more smoothly than the last one!

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